Liquid products such as cleaners, solvents, mouthwash, sports drinks, etc., are commonly supplied to a consumer in a bottle such as a plastic blow-molded bottle or another type of bottle. Access to the product within the bottle requires manipulation of a cap that seals the liquid product within the bottle. Various styles of caps are known. For example, a non-hinged threaded cap may be unscrewed from a threaded mouth of a bottle to completely remove the cap from the bottle to access the product within. A hinged flip cap may include a lower portion threaded onto the bottle and an upper portion attached to the lower portion with a hinge. To use the hinged flip cap, the consumer may articulate the upper cap portion away from the lower cap portion while the lower cap portion having an opening therein remains attached to the bottle, thereby opening the hinged flip cap. The product is dispensed from the opening in the lower cap portion when the hinged flip cap is in the open position.
Some bottles may include a plastic or foil seal between the bottle and the cap that seals the product within the bottle to prevent product contamination or tampering before sale and use by the consumer. Prior to initial use of the product, the consumer may remove the cap from the bottle, peal the seal from a rim around the mouth of the bottle, and then replace the cap.
Non-hinged threaded caps require a user to remove the cap completely from the bottle to access the product within. The mouth of the bottle serves as the orifice from which the product is dispensed. The lower portion of a hinged cap includes an orifice that is smaller than the mouth of the bottle.
Consumers of liquid products supplied in bottles may prefer different methods for dispensing the product from the bottle. To use a liquid cleaner, for example, some consumers may dispense the liquid product from the bottle into a bucket or other receptacle containing an amount of water to dilute the cleaner, while other consumers may prefer to dispense the liquid product directly onto the surface to be cleaned. Similarly, some consumers may dispense mouthwash into a cup prior to use, while others use the product directly from the bottle.
A large opening such as the mouth of the bottle may be sufficient for quickly dispensing a large amount of product from the bottle, for example, into a bucket or cup. However, a large opening may not provide sufficient control when dispensing a smaller amount of product, for example, directly onto a surface or into the mouth, and using a mouthwash product directly from the bottle has sanitation concerns. In contrast, when a consumer prefers to dispense a large volume of product quickly, a small bottle opening that provides sufficient control for dispensing a smaller volume of product may be insufficient for dispensing large volumes quickly.
Hinged flip caps can provide both a small opening in the lower portion of the cap and also a large opening by unscrewing the cap from the bottle and dispensing the product from the mouth of the bottle. However, hinged flip caps and other multi-part caps that are adjustable require complicated molding technology and are expensive relative to the overall cost of product packaging.
For some products, a particular consumer may prefer to have either a small opening for better control or a large opening for increased speed across the entire lifetime of the product. A bottle seal, and a bottle including the seal, that allows a consumer to easily select either a small opening for dispensing a smaller volume of liquid from the bottle with control or for dispensing a larger volume of liquid with speed would therefore be a welcome addition to the art.